Change of heart
by mean-girl123
Summary: Trip to lead mine. Accident occures. Paul and Suze are stuck in there. They will have to get along with each other to get out. Will they manage it? ON HIATUS i'm so sorry! but i figure you've had enough of my excuses and i take ages updating so until i've
1. I hate him

Hi everyone, I'm Aneesa.

This is a PS and has Suze and PaulPOV's

**Suze POV, **Paul POV

**Go easy yeh? This is my first FF**

**Disclaimer: The mediator or any of the characters in the mediator do not belong to me, they belong to one of the greatest writers I know, Meg Cabot.**

" **No Susannah, that really was out of order," Father D said sternly.**

" **But Father D-"**

**Father D put his hand up to stop me.**

**Yep, here I was, in Father Dom's office as usual, in trouble as usual. Sitting sideways in the chair, legs draped over one of the arm rests holding a Rubiq cube in my hands.**

**And this time it wasn't even my fault. **

**I swear…**

**..well okay, maybe a little bit.**

**But Debbie so deserved that slap. You should have heard her, yelling false accusations at me like that.**

**As if I would nick her lip gloss. Besides, I had it in peach AND strawberry.**

**Anyway, back to Father D.**

"**How many times must I have to tell you Susannah," and this was where I rolled my eyes, because I knew perfectly well what was coming next. "Violence is never the answer."**

**I mouthed the words along with him.**

**Yes, I'd gotten all the greens done!**

**Er…on the Rubik cube, I mean.**

"**Susannah," Father D's tired sigh made me snap up to look at him, leaving the Rubik cube forgotten. "You're not listening to me."**

" **Yeah, I am," I said defensively. "You said that violence is never the answer."**

"**No, you haven't listened to me-"**

"**Yeah, I have. I just said-"**

"**No Susannah, you have heard me but you haven't listened to me."**

**Huh? What the hell did that mean?**

"**Susannah, you know very well that I do not like violence."**

"**Yeah, I know Father D," I sighed, realising that this wasn't going to get anywhere.**

"**No, I don't think you do Susannah," he said.**

**Where had this habit of denial come from?**

**AND HOW DARE HE SAY THAT I DIDN'T GET IT? I KNEW PERFECTLY WELL- actually, no, I didn't, did I? **

**Of course violence was the answer. I mean, duh! Everyone knew _that._**

"**Susannah, you said this the last time also but now you have slapped Debora.**

"**Okay Father D," I said sincerely. "I swear," Father D frowned. "Alright, I promise I'll try harder next time."**

**It did the job though, since a satisfied smile appeared on Father D's face.**

**Father D dismissed me so I headed towards my next lesson (history) when I saw a smug looking Paul Slater coming my way.**

History had been as boring as ever so you can see why I had no choice but to ask Mr Walden if I could excuse myself.

Besides Suze wasn't in class and I was hoping I could run into her. My hopes were accomplished as I saw her coming towards me. And yes, she was looking as hot as usual.

"Hi Suze," I grinned. What was it about her that always seemed to put a smile on my face?

**I ignored him and tried to brush past him. 'Tried' being the operative word since he grabbed my wrist.**

"**Now c'mon Suze. Is that any way to greet a fellow friend?"**

"**You're not a friend," I replied after pulling my arm away from him. The tingling in my arm was really starting to annoy me.**

She was playing hard to get again. Doesn't she see that that just makes me want her more?

And it'll make it all the more worth it in the end.

"Fine, fellow classmate then."

Ha, got her!

"Okay, well then hi, if it makes you happy."

"You know it does."

This time she managed to stalk past me but only so I could follow her.

"What?" she snapped irritated.

"We're going to the same class Suze, I'm allowed to walk with you."

"Fair point," she grumbled.

**Ugh, he was looking so hot today. Not to say that he didn't look hot everyday but….wow!**

**He was wearing some shaded Levis which fitted his butt just right and a t-shirt which showed all his muscles.**

**And as always he had that manly aftershave on.**

**And the fact that he looked so good, and was still smirking made me even angrier .**

I saw that we had almost reached our classroom so I had to think fast and do something. Fortunately Suze did it herself.

"**Why are you grinning like that? You look like you got lucky last night."**

"Am I not allowed to smile in the presence of such a lovely woman?" I smiled at the opportunity of putting my arm around her shoulders. AND I saw her blush.

**I blushed but then tried to hide it. 'Damn it Suze, you don't blush', I tried telling myself. **

"And speaking of getting lucky, I didn't yesterday but maybe today-"

However, I was cut off as Suze put her hand over my mouth.

**I had to do that 'cause I knew what was coming next.**

**It was only after I'd put my hand over his mouth that I realised that I was touching his lips.**

**And believe me when I say that they felt good.**

**So, so good.**

Wow, today was my lucky day, I was progressing with Suze and I wasn't getting punched in the nose 'cause she was pulling all the moves.

I swear, time stopped for a moment as we stared at each other.

I kissed her hand while it was on my mouth and slowly backed her up into the wall.

Then I took said hand in _my_ hand and kissed it again, but on the back of it this time.

**My breath was caught in my throat. Oh man, that felt so good.**

**Why did I feel like I wanted him to be kissing more than just my hand?**

**He then moved in closer to me, putting his head beside mine.**

**His breath tickling my ear, he whispered, "Maybe tonight I'll get lucky because of …. You."**

I repeated the sentence that she had stopped me from saying earlier.

I pecked her ear and was just moving towards her lips when,

"PAUL SLATER AND SUSANNAH SIMON!" Sister Ernestine shrieked.

I groaned inwardly, we were so close.

"Get to class right now!"

**Thank God! For once I was glad of Sister Ernestine's presence.**

**The distraction caused Paul to move about an inch away from me, so I grabbed the chance to rush into class.**

Aw man, something had to happen, didn't it? Damn it.

Reluctantly, I followed Suze back into class

"**Everybody ready for the trip tomorrow, remember to bring warm clothes and a waterproof."**

**Huh? What trip?**

**I turned to Cee Cee who sat next to me.**

"**We're going to a lead mine tomorrow to study how the Victorians earned their living," she whispered.**

**Oh yay! How exciting!...**

…**Not!**

**The last bell of the day rang and I started packing my school stuff away.**

**My gaze skittered over to Paul. Actually Paul and Kelly since Kelly was always stuck onto him.**

**Not that I cared obviously. I mean, she could have him for all I care-**

**OHMIGOD! She's sitting on his lap. And I didn't even know a skirt could get that short.**

**Ugh, she's giving him a French lesson. Gross.**

**I shook myself. Why was I even thinking that? **

**She really could have him for all I care. Yep.**

**He's just a two-timing bastard who wants what he can't have.**

**And next time I'm not gonna give in to him.**

…**.yeh sure Suze, you keep believing that.**

Hope you enjoyed it.

If you liked it review, constructive comments are greatly appreciated but no criticism please.

Now just press that purple button and review!

Bye!


	2. facing the truth

**Hi again everyone!**

**I'm so so so sorry that this took so long, but as I've explained to some people my computer broke down.**

**I hope you enjoy this, but really this chapter is just setting out the scene.**

**Anyhow, still hope that you enjoy it.**

**Dark, creepy and smelly.**

**Honestly it stank so badly. Kinda like wee I suppose. No, I am not kidding.**

**I don't even know why we'd come here. Couldn't they have taught us this in the classroom?**

**We had to wear these manky blue overalls that the centre gave us. I bet they weren't even washed.**

**And if life weren't bad enough we had to carry all our stuff with us.**

**Now, for most people that wouldn't be so bad since all they'd brought with them was a pen and some paper so all they had to carry with them was that and the clothes they had come in.**

**But me, I know what mines are like, I've been in them before.**

**You get muddy, dirty and you smell.**

**And since I didn't want to come out looking or smelling like a caveman, I came self prepared with all my stuff in my rucksack.**

**And now my back was killing. And the bag wasn't exactly attractive either, although it was doing the job.**

**However, there was a bonus, you got to see not just Mr Walden, but Sister Ernestine and Father D in jumpsuits.**

"**Oh, look at this Suze!" Cee Cee said excitedly, running to a huge rock.**

**She might have been my best mate, but I'm sure that there's still something wrong up there, ya know?**

**I rolled my eyes and jogged lightly over to Cee Cee. What had she found this time?**

The trip wasn't that bad, I guess. But it wasn't as good as I'd hoped either.

I thought I could've gotten close to Suze, you know, sine you know we were walking around examining things.

But no such luck, every time I'd see Suze, Kelly would once again pop up from no where and flirt non-stop. No offence to her or anything she was reall hot, but she wasn't Suze, was she?

"So," said Kelly, unfolding the map. "Where are we?"

"Here," I pointed on the map.

"No, we aren't," she said after a moment of thoughtful silence.

"Yes, we are," I said.

"No, we aren't."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we aren't."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we're not because on the map it shows big grey things but all I can see is rocks."

I sighed. I could tell this was gonna be a long day.

"Kelly, those big grey things are rocks."

"**Oh my God, Suze. This really is amazing," Cee said, running her hands over the carvings of a rock.**

**_What is? _ I wanted to ask, but then thought better of it, when I remembered the simple question I had asked her in science. It resulted in a massive lecture on how volcanoes were formed. Massive as in 37 minutes and 43 seconds.**

"**The guy was left here to die-"**

**She was interrupted by Mr David, who was leading us round this place.**

"**Ah, I see one of our young explorers has already found what I was about to show you," he exclaimed, pointing at Cee.**

**Snort! Oh puh-lease, did he even know how gay that sounded?**

**I looked over to give Cee an amused look but she was unmistakably blushing.**

**I yet again rolled my eyes.**

Mr David called out, giving me an opportunity to get Kelly off me.

I sighed, my mission to seduce Suze wasn't really working considering I hadn't been able to say a word to her today.

I don't see the problem, I'm willing to give her anything and everything but she still won't come to me. I approach her and she runs away. I kiss her and she punches my nose.

What else can I do?

I am Paul Slater. I'm a determined fighter but she sure as hell has got good defending techniques.

What if she never gives in?

What if I spend my whole life just living for her while she spends her whole life with someone who's not even a living human?

Can't give up yet, but I'm pretty sure that if she keeps pushing me away like this I'll have to.

**Okay, I admit it, I wasn't really concentrating on what Mr David was saying.**

**But it wasn't my fault! He was just so…boring.**

**Anyway, my mind was just drifting off and I was looking around the mine when my eyes landed on…..Paul and Kelly.**

**Gawd, does that girl never leave his side?**

**Not that I cared obviously.**

**But you know….she should give the poor guy a little space….**

…**..actually, you know what, he deserves it, I convinced myself.**

**Ignoring the sinking of my stomach as Kelly ran her hands over his chest and whispered in his ear, I tuned back into Mr David.**

**I really didn't want to know what Kelly had said that had made Paul grin so broadly.**

**About four hours later I knew stuff that I really didn't want to know.**

**Cruelty. Children being dragged across these very mines, their bleeding feet scraping along the floor as they were forced to do work.**

**And people falling to their deaths from 70 ft high.**

**AND (saved the worst til last) men being hung in here (because they'd been caught stealing lead) and having to carve messages in the rocks with- you won't believe it- their nails.**

…**.Yeah, that's what Cee Cee was marvelling over before.**

**Now (thankfully) it was time to go.**

"**Can I have 11J lined up here please?" Mr Walden requested, but in a commanding voice so 11J didn't really have a choice.**

"**11S here, and 11W here," putting his arm out to where he wanted us to line up. "And remember, alphabetical order as we need to do the register. **

**I went to join 11S.**

I pried Kelly's arm off my neck and went to join 11S.

Right behind Suze. Finally.

Okay, here goes. If she still resists then I'll do what she wants and leave her alone.

I crept up behind her,(she hadn't seemed to notice me yet) put my hands around her waist and whispered in her ear "Hey beautiful."

**Ugh. And there I was thinking my day was finally going to get better.**

**I gotta admit though, his arms around me added warmth, something I really needed in this freezing cave.**

**And I can't deny the fact that when he said that in my ear, a chill went down my spine. I resisted the urge to shiver.**

**But I ignored the warmth and the chill (how I can feel both at once, I don't know) and elbowed him in his hard muscled stomach.**

I should have seen it coming. I mean, she does it practically every time, but somehow I still can't seem to get enough of her.

Anyway, I should probably count my lucky stars she didn't go for the nose again.

**Bingo! I turned around and gave him a smug smile.**

She was playing a game with no rules. I used to love it, but now I'm getting impatient.

**Why can't we just hurry up and get out of here? People were making so much noise that the teachers wouldn't let us out.**

**However, when Sister Ernestine threatened to cancel the school disco everyone automatically shut up.**

I picked up my pride and said, "Can't keep your hands off me Suze? That's okay, I know the feeling."

**And there he goes again.**

**God, can't this guy take a hint?**

"**For your information," I hissed, as Mr Walden was counting the children in our line, "I elbowed you. As far as I know my hand didn't even come in contact with your body."**

Come on, Suze. Just please. You don't know how bad I want you.

**We were the last ones walking out, you know surname ending with S and all. At last though, we heading towards the mouth of the cave, out into the sunlight.**

Before I had time to reply, there was a big bang. (And not the kind I want to take place between me and Suze either.)

**I looked up to see some big rocks falling towards me and Paul.**

Letting my natural instincts attack first, I ran towards Suze, pushing her out the way, landing on top of her.

**Okay, I've done my job and updated, ( a little late perhaps but that was purely the computers fault).**

**Now it's your job to review.**

…**Please.**

**Luv you all, and the quicker you review the quicker I update.**

**Good deal, huh?**


	3. Running

**You guys rock my world! I can't believe the amount of reviews I got, I was so pleased!**

**Neway, since you all reviewed I thought I'd make this chapter a bit longer.**

**I hope you enjoy it since I was up til half two in the morning to write this.**

**Remember, Suze is in bold.**

**Luv Aneesa**

I jumped at her, knocking her to the ground.

**What was he playing at? **

**"Paul, what-" However, I stopped when with another bang, a waterfall of rocks came crashing down.**

Fuck! The rocks were falling freely now.

"Ssh," I tried to cover more of Suze's body with my own, in order to protect her of course.

…**Okay. I was getting scared now. I mean, I didn't even know what was happening 'cause Paul was covering me.**

"**AHHH!" I screamed, as I saw something fall towards me.**

I looked up to see why Suze was screaming and saw a rock pelting its way towards us.

**My first instinct was to grab something strong to protect me. So I did.**

**I was still screaming as I hugged Paul so hard, I think I might've even broken a few ribs. If I could manage to get past all that muscle that is.**

She was clinging on to me so I rolled us around, dodging the boulder.

But all too suddenly, it stopped.

**My head was still buried in his neck. **

**What? It was a scary experience, alright? **

**So what if I'm a wimp. Wimps are cool.**

…**Well, okay maybe not, but shut up.**

I looked down to Suze. "Are you okay?" I asked.

**I nodded. **

**"Yeah," I croaked. "Uh yeah, sorry about…you know…"I nodded towards his chest, hoping he'd get the message.**

"That's alright," I smirked. "I wasn't exactly complaining."

**I felt myself redden. Okay ground, you can swallow me up now.**

"**So…uh, what stopped it? I asked, glancing at the rubble around us.**

"**I think it's more a question of who stopped it," said a strained but deep masculine voice behind us.**

**I turned around to see a lanky kinda man in brown bootleg trousers, white shirt and leather shoes.**

**He'd even topped the outfit off with a cowboy hat.**

**Oh yeah, he also had an orangey yellow glow around him. Meaning that, yes, he was dead. **

**He was practically the spitting image of Jesse. Minus the hat though. **

**I now saw why his voice was strained. He was holding two of the wooden sticks of the scaffolding and pushing them towards one of the walls, stopped the rocks falling and squashing us to death.**

(a/n sorry if that's a bit unrealistic, I couldn't think of anything else)

"**Get out of here," he shouted. **

**We just lay there.**

**H seemed a bit annoyed at our stunned and frozen bodies. I could see why though, I mean he was holding the weight of a whole wall just for us.**

"**Go on then. Run!" he yelled.**

He didn't need to tell us twice-oh no, wait he did.

Erm ok, he didn't have to tell us the third time. I grabbed Suze's hand and got up, pulling her up with me.

I ran to the entrance-only to see it blocked with a wall of rocks.

**Shit!**

Fuck!

**We needed to get out of there. By the look on the ghost guy's face it seemed as if he wouldn't be able to hold the weight any longer.**

**(Well, he also looked constipated but that is totally besides the point.)**

"**Paul…?" my voice was desperate.**

She looked at me, as if waiting for me to come up with a solution.

Well sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but I didn't have one.

"I-can't-hold-any-longer!" the ghost managed to gasp out.

**Even I could see that. The poor guy's arms were clearly wobbling under the weight of the wall. **

**He was already dead though. I wasn't. I wanted to at least reach my 21st birthday.**

**"Paul…?" I said nervously. "I think we should-"**

**SNAP. The sticks broke, and in the small time of a millisecond all the boulders same crashing down again.**

"RUN!"I roared.

**Duh! And then we started running. **

I ran like my life depended on it (which I suppose it did). Dodging and jumping over rocks, I kept looking over my shoulder to see whether Suze was still behind me or not.

**I could hear and feel the rocks chasing me. And shit, I was running like I never knew I could. **

**I was getting really tired by now, I'm telling you I had been running for quite a time, at a very quick speed nonetheless. **

**And out of nowhere, I fell. Hard.**

**Stupid rock! I cursed the cause of my fall.**

I heard an unfamiliar thud behind me.

"SUZE!" I shouted, as I saw her lying on the floor.

…**Great! My arch enemy gets to see me tripped over. He'll never let me forget that.**

The boulders were coming fast now. If Suze didn't move in 2 seconds she'd be buzzard food.

"SUZE!" I yelled again. I ran back to her, yanked her up by the arm and started running again.

We ran and ran until…there was no where to run anymore. Seriously, there was just this big massive wall in front of us.

**Oh God. I sighed. It was just my luck, wasn't it?**

The rocks would be reaching us in about 5 seconds.

**I scrunched up my shoulders, getting ready to die. **

**Looked down…and I saw…I saw a hatch!**

**I SAW A HATCH!**

"**Paul!" I said, nudging him in the side. He ignored me. "Paul!"**

4 seconds.

"Not now Suze," I barked, irritated that she would interrupt me while I was trying to _hatch_ a plan.

3 seconds.

"**PAUL! LOOK DOWN!" I grabbed his head and pointed it towards the hatch.**

A HATCH! A WAY OF ESCAPE!...2 seconds. I vent down and opened it

"**No-Paul, do you really think we should-?"**

Yes. I grabbed her and pushed her down….1 second.

I jumped.

-8-

**For about 2 seconds I was falling. Then with a thud I was rolling. Rolling down a really bumpy slope.**

**And I didn't even know where I was going to end up.**

"**PAUL!"**

We were rolling down the hill on our sides. And damn, it hurt.

I just about managed to hear Suze call my name, I saw her hand out of the corner of my eye and instinctively grabbed it.

The gesture stopped her rolling for a second as I rolled over her but then we were rolling again. This time with her in my arms.

**We were nearing the bottom of the slope, where the ground levelled out. We'd be there in two seconds.**

…**If only there wasn't a big rock blocking our way.**

**It was as if everything registered to me in slow motion. I wanted to warn Paul but I couldn't.**

**I just watched as our heads crashed into the big boulder that lay in our way.**

-8-

**Ugh. So uncomfortable.**

**And my head was hurting.**

**I moved and opened my eyes. When had I closed them? **

**I could only look around since I was in too much pain to move. I was looking at grey walls and I could hear a slight dripping sound somewhere. **

**I racked my brains, or what I had of them, trying to remember.**

**Remember Suze, c'mon remember.**

**Trip…lead mine…Paul...crash.**

**Bits and pieces were coming back to me now. After the crash-what happened? **

**There was definitely rocks falling. And…a ghost? Yes, a ghost here. He tried to help.**

**So...so we ran. But we couldn't find way out coz some _really _stupid rocks were blocking our bloody way. Running…dead end …hatch…fall…roll…rock…crash… Paul? PAUL?**

**Where was Paul? I sat up, trying to ignore the stabbing blinding pain in my head. My eyes fell on Paul who was lying just a few feet away from me.**

"**P-p-p-paul? We're stuck Paul," but he didn't move or make any indication to let me know that he acknowledged my presence.**

**The Silent Treatment then, is it? God, was there ever a time when this guy wasn't annoying?**

"**Paul, get up." Still no movement.**

**I crawled over to him.**

"**You're being a right bastard, you know," I thwacked his chest, but when his eyes remained closed and he didn't even flinch, I got slightly worried.**

"**Paul?" I shook him. "Paul?" Harder yet. "C'mon Paul, get up."**

**I grabbed hid face and-ohmigod!**

**Ohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigod!**

**There was this huge trickle of bright red blood running down the side of his face.**

**Okay, so what was I supposed to do? Of course I screamed.**

**I mean, what if he was dead? Just my luck if the two hottest guys on the planet are dead.**

**You know, not that Paul's hot or anything-well he is but-I don't fancy him-I just think he's hott-butidon'tfancyhim!**

**Okay, you know what people, there could be a dead guy lying in my arms right now. Could we focus on that, rather than my love life?**

I heard a shrill scream. It sounded distant yet still hurt my ears.

I grunted. It seemed as if that was the only thing I was capable of doing.

"**Paul…?" I asked disbelievingly. Seemed as if his name was the only thing I could say these days.**

I ignored whatever or whoever was disturbing me. I figured I'd sort them out later.

Oh man, it was hurting my head to even speak.

**Ohmygod! **

**He just ignored me! How rude!**

"**PAUL!" **

Urghhh! I wanted to go to sleep. Who was it that kept disturbing me?

Ignoring them didn't work, maybe if I tell the stupid person gently (since I didn't have any strength to shout) that I wanted to go to sleep, they'd listen.

"I…."

Why was it so hard for me to talk? Oh yeah, I was in total agony, that may be it?

Why was I in total agony, though? ……….

………

…….nah, still can't think of anything. Maybe if I went to sleep it would help?

Yeah, I think it would.

"I want…I want to go…." I licked my lips, and tried once more to get the words out.

"I want to go…"

**Where did he want to go? **

**He looked like in that film, where this guy got shot and he was almost dead and he goes "I want to go…I want to go to heaven."**

**And then he died.**

**My eyes widened. What if that's what Paul was trying to say?**

**He groaned. I must say that would've turned me on if this wasn't a life or death situation. But it was. So it didn't. Turn me on, I mean.**

**I looked down at him. He looked disturbed, and his breathing was going slower.**

**ARGH! HE WAS GOING TO DIE!**

**I panicked! What was I supposed to do!**

**I racked my brains. Again.**

**Yep, lots of brain wracking going on today. **

**And then I remembered the sound of trickling water I had heard when I first got up.**

**I strained my ears, trying to find that sound again. I got up and tried to follow it.**

**When I finally got there, I realised I had nothing to carry the water with. So I had to run back to where Paul was , and get my bag, the one which had been breaking my back, throughout the trip.**

**I searched inside for something that could carry the water.**

**Purse? No, too small. Make-up bag? No way! We could be here for hours. God forbid. Pencil case? Yes. No way was I going to miss that. I opened it and chucked the contents inside the bag. **

**Then I ran back to the water thingy. The 'water thingy' was actually just a hole I the wall with some water coming out. After I'd successfully gathered the water I ran back to Paul (again) and tripped over a stone and (accidentally) spilt all the water on Paul's face.**

I sat up abruptly, coughing and spluttering water.

**Whoops? **

**What? Don't look at me like that. So what if I'm a little clumsy. **

**I looked down at Paul again, who having gotten the water out of his lungs, was almost unconscious again.**

**I cleaned a gash on his arm and then got a handkerchief from his front pocket and wrapped it around the injury.**

**Funny how Paul's never without a handkerchief or the smell of expensive aftershave.**

**I yawned. Great. Now I was worn out.**

**I really wanted to go to sleep… My eyes were slowly closing… I was drifting off… I slouched down.**

**But no! I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I had to find a way out of here. I couldn't let myself fall asleep. I couldn't give in to temptation.**

"**Paul." **

"**Hmm," he 'hmmed' in his sleep.**

"**Paul, get up, we've got to get out of here."**

**He rolled over on his side and wrapped his warm around my waist. **

"**Later," he murmured, still in his sleep. I found myself lying back. Hmm, maybe we could figure it out later. After all, it was really hurting me to keep my eyes open for so long. The last thing I could remember doing was closing my eyes.**

_**Hmm, yeh, we'd get out of here when we woke up.**_

**Little did I know how wrong I was.**

**I kinda rushed this chapter, cos I'd been putting it off for a long time and I knew I wouldn't be able to do it this week. **

**I'm celebrating eid!(Yay, money!)**

**Your reviews were the only things that made me risk getting told off by my mum and updating this in the middle of the night.**

**I know this chapter is a little rushed but I promise the story will get better. Please please please review.**

**Even if it's just 2 words. **

**Oh and you're welcome to put constructive criticism. It would really help.**

**Luv aneesa.**

**xxx**


	4. chapter 4

**All I can say is, I'm sorry. **

**It's been ages since I last updated, and even though this is quite short, I felt so bad I had to put it up.**

**I promise, I _really_ do, I'll try to update quicker next time, and with a longer piece.**

**I hope I haven't lost any readers, can you please still review for me?**

**  
**

**I didn't mean to fall asleep for that long. It just happened. I don't want you thinking that I'm so lazy that I fall asleep for 14 hours every time I go to bed.**

**In fact, sometime within those 14 hours, I did wake up. **

**I felt Paul's breath against my cheek and his leg underneath mine. I felt his strong arm around me and his chest rising up and down with every breath he took. **

**I was aware that my head and hand were on that very same chest.**

**I was also in a very unusually blissful mood. Later, I wondered why, since, you know, I was in a cave with a guy I hated.**

**But right then I didn't care. I turned around so my back was against him but put his arm around me. **

**And then I drifted back to sleep.**

I didn't care where we were. I didn't want to care. It was just me and Suze, and that's how it's meant to be.

I sensed her moving and for a moment there I thought she was gonna go. But she didn't.

She turned around and put my arm around her. I smiled.

**When I next woke up my brain was functioning properly enough to know where I was. And I wasn't happy.**

**I was still in that damned dark blue jumpsuit that we'd had to wear. And it was starting to stink. Bad.**

**But worse than that. I was in a cave. Trapped! With Paul! **

I squinted one eye open, to see if Suze was awake. She was.

I realised it was only a matter of time before she wriggled out of my embrace.

**I looked around, as well as I could anyway and saw (if I'm honest) just a whole lot of grey nothingness. There was a lot of rocks and stones around us and the walls were rough and spiky, with what I thought was little pieces of glass as well.**

**I tried to turn around. I couldn't. Paul was holding me too damned hard. **

"**Paul. Wake up," I said, no warmth in my voice. **

I decided to feign sleep, so with my eyes still closed all I did was pull her that slightest bit closer to me.

"**Paul, I know you're awake. Stop pretending."**

Dammit!

**Ok, well, I didn't know, but hopefully it would work.**

I snuggled up _even _closer to her, and nuzzled her in the neck.

"No, I'm not. I'm still asleep." I ended with a kiss on her neck just below her ear.

**I suppressed the shiver that had overtaken my body…at least I hope I did. I felt Paul smile in my neck…okay…I obviously didn't suppress as hard as I should have.**

"**Paul, stop it!"**

I buried my head deeper into her neck and started stroking her stomach.

"Give me three reasons why I should."

**I sat up. **

" **No. 1. This is cave. **

**No. 2. We are in this cave.**

**No. 3. We can't get out of this cave. ." **

**He just ignored me. "So, stop it Paul!" I whined, and pushed him back.**

"Why?"

**Ugh! I swear, I could slap him! Why didn't he get it?**

"**We need to get out!"**

"I dunno, I kinda like this." My hand crawled up to her stomach and rested there.

**I flung his hand off, and jumped up. **

**"Can somebody help?" I yelled, looking up the slope which we had rolled down. A slope which I knew had a hatch at the top of it.**

I found this quite funny. I turned around and lay fully on my back, with my hands under my head.

**"Please? Somebody? Anybody?" I pleaded desperately into nothingness. I sensed Paul smirking behind me. I turned around.**

**"Aren't you gonna help me?" I snapped.**

**"Help you do what? Make a fool of yourself? Well, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that you're doing a pretty good job of that by yourself," he grinned. **

**I threw him a dirty look and his grin expanded.**

**"You know what? Grin all you like. But when I'll be out of this damned place and you're still rotting away here, we'll see who'll be grinning."**

**I went back to yelling for help.**

**"And you think that screaming at the top of your lungs will get you your ticket out of here?" he questioned.**

**Fair point, I thought. Not that I was going to tell him that.**

**I bent down and picked up some rocks which I started chucking at the walls.**

"**It could work," I protested, but I was sounding doubtful even to my own ears.**

**"Please! Can somebody come and save me! I'm stuck with a complete maniac; if I'm forced to stay here any longer I'll die. I promise!"**

**Paul chuckled. I turned around and narrowed my eyes at him.**

**"Screw you!" I spat (not literally of course) and span back around thinking if I could maybe climb back out or something. Lost in thought I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing and crashed into a wall, scraping my hand all along it.**

**I yowled in pain, I'd peeled a lot of skin and it (my hand) was bleeding loads. Before I knew it, Paul was by my side having grabbed my hand.**

**"Shit Suze! Why'd you have to go and do that for?" he scowled, looking at my hand. **

**That made me angry. He had cheek!**

**First of all he didn't help me when I said we'd had to get out of here, secondly, when _I_ was trying to get out, he laughed, and thirdly, after I'd hurt myself (telling _him_ off) he had the nerve to come up to me and tell me off, as if it was my fault!**

**I snatched my hand away from his.**

**"Oh, now you're bothered?" I said, scornfully. He looked down into my eyes disbelievingly.**

_I've always been bothered_, I thought. But I didn't say anything. It's not as if she'd believe me anyway.

**He ignored me and reached for my hand. I didn't let him take it. Instead, I started shouting.**

I told myself it's only best to stay quiet in these kinds of situations. She was only getting angry because her hand was hurt, I reasoned.

**"Just laughing at me when I, like a fool, was shouting for help!"**

**"You don't care about me," I said bitterly. "You never have! So stop pretending to care."**

**Before I had chance to know what was happening, Paul had roughly grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me up right against him.**

**"Stop it! I know what you think of me. You think I'm a user, you think I'm selfish, you think I'm a rich bastard and you think I'm snobby. You've stereotyped me in every negative way possible. But don't ever _ever_ think I don't care." **

**I think it's safe to say I was more than shocked at his outburst. **

**His hands were gripping the tops of my arms, and his face was an inch away from mine at the most.**

**He slightly loosened his grip on my arms and moved back.**

"**I _do_ care. I always have," he said in a much gentler and softer voice. But he sounded, I dunno, almost regretful.**

**He gently brushed away a lock of fringe that had dropped over my eyes. **

**I didn't know what to say. What could I say?**

**This time it wasn't as easy to say that he was lying. That all he wanted to do was get into my pants. Not after he's said it with so much honesty and desperation, which were both visible in his voice and his eyes.**

**I really was speechless. My mouth had gone all dry and I couldn't move my lips. Which didn't really matter I suppose, since I couldn't think of what to say anyway.**

**So I didn't. say anything, I mean.**

**I couldn't look at him either. It was way too painful. So I looked at the ground.**

**The only sound in the place was our breathing, and that damned trickling of water, both of which echoed around us.**

**Finally, he spoke. I looked up.**

"**Now, I know you're not exactly thrilled about being here, especially with me."**

**I opened my mouth (probably to deny it) but he held up his hand as if to shush me, and carried on talking.**

"**But I think we'll be able to find a way out of here sooner if we stick together. After that, if you want, we can go our separate ways. Just bear with me for now though."**

**Way to make me feel bad, I thought glumly.**

"**Your hand?" he said.**

**_Oh yeah._ Funny how as soon as he mentioned it all the pain came back. I inched it forward as an indication for him to take it.**

Not trailing my hand down her arm or touching her any more unnecessarily, I took her hand…and flinched when I saw it. She'd hurt it really bad. No wonder all that crap came out her mouth.

**He led me to a rock and made me sit on it. Then he asked me where the water source was. He'd probably heard the trickling of the water.**

**I told him where it was. He took off to where I'd pointed him to which hopefully was right. I'd never been good with directions.**

**I felt kinda odd, I don't know why but I just did.**

**Shortly, Paul returned with a wet cloth. He took my hand once again and really _really_ gently dabbed away on the blood. It really hurt, especially because there were a lot of open wounds. It was stinging so much and I had to try really hard to resist the urge to pull my hand back.**

**I closed my eyes shut tight, hoping it would help. After a few moments I realised it didn't.**

**So I opened them gain.**

**No point in looking like a doofus, I thought, when it didn't even reduce the pain.**

**Yet…yet somehow Paul wasn't bothered. I mean, sure he was bothered about not causing me too much pain (if by the gentle way he was treating my hand was any indication) but he wasn't bothered about me acting like such a wimp.**

**Now I realised why I felt so odd. It wasn't me who was being weird, it was him. He was acting strangely …decent.**

**I mean, he hadn't made any sexual innuendo's, or touched me unnecessarily in any way, he hadn't even displayed that stupid smirk of his!**

**It was strangely unnerving.**

**Suppose, I better enjoy it while it lasts, I thought and smiled just the slightest.**

**It was as I was thinking this that he looked up and saw me gazing at him. **


	5. Chapter 5

**When we had realised that there's no way that we could possibly climb up the dirty slope to the hatch, we thought we'd go round and see if there was another way.**

**Actually Paul suggested it, and since I couldn't think of a better idea, I just nodded dumbly and went along with it.**

**5 hours later I could've sworn we'd walked past the same jagged rocks about a thousand times.**

**And also, those 5 hours we'd been walking? They seemed like a hundred. Courtesy of Paul.**

**And even though I didn't know what it was exactly that he had done, I knew that it was totally his fault.**

**Seriously, in these last 5 hours I'd seen a side of him I never had before. Could be because he didn't have it before.**

**You know, the decent side of him. He must've banged his head hard. _Really_ hard.**

"**Uh, Suze?' Paul's voice warned.**

**I looked up just in time for my vision to see blurred greyness (cause that's all this place was) and to feel a sharp pain on my head.**

I thought she might b getting tired. We had been walking for quite a bit. I looked back to her, she was a few paces behind me, and I saw that she was in deep thought. So I turned back round and continued trying to think logically about where the way out could be.

I kept checking up on her though, to see how she was holding up, but I didn't bother asking her. I knew what the answer would be.

Suze is pretty tough. Not just physically but mentally. She's also stubborn. She'd never admit that she was tired. Especially to me.

It was when I looked for her once again and saw that she wasn't behind me when I got worried.

I quickly retraced my steps and saw her a bit off track and millimetres from walking into a rock. A massive one.

"Uh, Suze?"

She looked up, eyes widening and walked right into it. It was actually quite funny, but I knew she'd get mad if I laughed.

I walked to where she was sitting down, I think she was still shocked.

"Are you ok?"

**I blushed a deep red. How stupid could I get?**

**Walking into a bloody rock. One that was two metres high as well.**

**I could've kicked myself if it wasn't for that fact that I didn't know how to and that Paul was crouched next to me asking if I was ok.**

"**Yeah,"I mumbled, avoiding his gaze and looking down at my hands. "I just think I'm a little tired.**

I nodded understandingly and asked, "Do you want some water?"

"**Nah, forget it." I said. "I can't be arsed to walk all the way over there.**

_I'll carry you_, was what I was about to say. I didn't though.

"**Besides, how are we going to find the…erm…water thingy?"**

I smiled inwardly. "The spring?"

"**Yeah, that's it," I replied, feeling stupid. "We've been walking for ages, and I haven't seen another one so far."**

"I wouldn't worry about that."

I didn't say that. I whipped my head round in the direction it came from.

**I saw that it was that guy that we had seen earlier; you know the Jesse look alike plus a hat.**

I suppressed a groan, not _another _cowboy!

"**There's another spring further up," he said.**

**I was stunned.**

"**You-you're a ghost," I said incredulously. I started out as a question but then turned into a statement.**

"**Really?" he asked, in a kind of duh-you-don't-say kind of way. But he didn't say it in a mean way, in fact he sounded kind of…amused. I noticed his eyes were twinkling.**

**I felt embarrassed all of a sudden, making such an obvious remark.**

"**Erm yeah, but what are you doing here?" I asked him.**

"**I could ask you the same question, pretty little girl like you shouldn't be here either."**

"She's not exactly here by choice," I said angrily.

He just shrugged and carried on walking. "So, you're looking for water then?"

"Yeah," I said coldly, (hey! I was mad alright? He shouldn't have been hitting on my girl) as he led us back in the direction we had just come from.

**I shot Paul a warning look.**

"**What's your problem?" I whispered harshly.**

"**Nothing," he said distractedly. I noticed he was glaring…in the direction that the ghost' retreating back went.**

"**Well, whatever it is, stop it!" I snapped. "He saved us remember? The least you can do is be nice."**

"**And I saved you right before he did. What do I get?"**

"**Just say thanks to him alright?"**

**He looked as if he was going to argue back, but then changed his mind.**

What was the point? I didn't want to deal with a mad Suzie.

"**Okay," he said in a resigned way sort of way. I looked at him for a moment.**

Avoiding the questioning I knew was going to come, I walked a bit faster, catching up with the cowboy.

"Look, er…,"he turned around. "Thanks for...you know…helping us." I swallowed. Wow, that was hard to get out.

"S'alright…"

"Paul," I said.

"Right Paul, what are you doing here anyway?" he asked. "Before the wall decided to collapse that is."

"School trip!" Suze replied, far too happily than required.

**What? I was glad to be finally having a decent conversation.**

"**Did you find it interesting?" he asked.**

"**Err…" I desperately tried to come up with something.**

I just gave him a weird look.

**He laughed and led us to the right.**

"**Alright, well I suppose I can understand why being stuck with your teachers in a cave on a sunny Friday afternoon could be slightly annoying."**

**Just slightly.**

We didn't say anything.

**He led us down a path walk excruciatingly slow. I realised I really was thirsty.**

**Finally, we turned left and saw a …dead end? He noticed my confused expression and laughed.**

He sure laughed a lot for someone who was dead.

"**Don't worry," he said with a wink to me. "I wouldn't do that to you." **

**And with that he walked further up to the wall, and beckoned me to come closer. I did.**

I tried not to notice that she had just left me behind.

**I grinned as I saw that a bit of the wall had caved in to reveal a fresh flowing spring. It was bigger than the other one and the water looked much cleaner.**

**Ecstatic with joy, I immediately dropped my bag pack, cupped some water into my hand and lapped up as much water as I could, pleased at the comfort the cold refreshing water gave my throat as it swished down.**

**After a few thirsty gulps I sat back, a bit embarrassed about being so greedy, but not being able to hide the grin that had appeared on my face.**

"**Paul?"**

I went and had a few sips of water myself, filling up my water bottle in the process and then walked back to Suze and the ghost.

**We sat ourselves down on some rocks, the ghost sitting opposite me, and when Paul came back he sat on a rock a couple of feet to my right.**

"**So…what's your name?" I asked, conversationally.**

"**Mike," he replied.**

"**Short for Michael?" I asked.**

"**Yeah. What about you?"**

I studied his attire. He looked as if he was from the 1850's or something. He also had a hint of a distinctive accent but I couldn't quite place it.

"**Suze. Short for Susannah," I added quickly before he could ask.**

"**Susannah." He said the name as if he was testing it out; turned out he approved because just a couple of seconds later he goes. "It's a very pretty name Susannah."**

**I nodded slowly, remembering what my mom had told me back in Brooklyn once, while we were sitting on the couch binge-ing on Ben & Jerry's.**

**Voicing my thoughts, I said, "My dad wanted to call me Sonia and my mom wanted Jasmine. In the end, my grandma sorted it all out by introducing the name Susannah. The both loved it."**

Why hadn't she ever told me that?

**There was a bit of a silence after that. I almost regretted saying that much. And also, Paul was looking at me really strangely.**

**Fortunately for me, Mike broke the silence. **

"**Well…there's a bit of a history behind the name, isn't there?" **

**I cracked a smile.**

"**Why, did yours get picked from a hat?" I asked, still smiling.**

"**No," he said, almost smugly. "Mine was chosen for it's meaning."**

"**Which is?"**

**He answered, "Michael, from the Hebrew name, Who is like God."**

I don't know if my ears were deceiving me but I'm pretty sure he sounded like he had rehearsed that particular information a few times.

**Err…what was I supposed to say to that?**

"**So, do you know what your name means?" he asked me.**

Lily.

**No. How was I meant to know what it means?**

That's what her name meant.

Lily.

Personally, I think her grandma couldn't have chosen a prettier name.

**I think mom once mentioned that I was named after a flower…**

Chilout! I wasn't obsessed or anything. It was only when I was once doing translation work and I thought I'd check out what the name meant.

But…Suze does remind me of this lily I once saw in a park back in Seattle. Our parents thought we should celebrate Dad's promotion with dinner at a top-notch restaurant and we were walking through the park to get there; it was a beautiful night, the sun was just starting to set and the evening had a warm glow to it.

My keys dropped to the floor as I was walking and when I bent down to get them, I came eye to eye with the flower.

It was light pink coloured and had a beautiful scent to it. The flower was closed but really intrigued me. My route to school was through the walk so I walked past the flower everyday but it never opened up to me.

After months of persistence the flower finally opened up, and it's beauty really was worth the wait. Seriously, I'm not camp or anything, the flower really just was that beautiful. It could've just been a coincidence that I met Suze a week later.

But I like to think it wasn't.

"Lily," I whispered, subconsciously.

**Did I just…? I swear I just heard…? I turned around in the direction the voice came from and I saw Paul sitting there. But he didn't look as if he'd said something.**

**I turned back to Mike and listened to him carry on talking. **

**But I suppose after 10 minutes of pointless chatter Paul had had enough.**

"Quit talking for a second and just tell us how to get out of here would you?"

_**Ok, I tried to write a longer chapter but unfortunately I'm not that good a writer so I'm thinking about not pushing myself too hard since I'll probably just blow up. Sorry about breaking the whole 'quicker and longer chapter' promise.**_

_**I've started working on the next chapter.**_

_**Please review!**_

_**Aneesa**_

_**P.S Can you please comment on Paul's behaviour in this chapter? I want ot show that he cares about Suze but I'm worried I made him look a bit too sensitive and un-Paul like.**_

_**And don't worry, in couple of chapter Paul will be back as his normal cocky arrogant smirking self, he's just going through a phase right now.**_


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